


Gasp

by Davechicken



Series: Kylux - Fluff & Angst [78]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-24
Updated: 2016-11-24
Packaged: 2018-09-01 20:29:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8637022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Davechicken/pseuds/Davechicken
Summary: Hux suffers from hyperventilation from time to time. Kylo helps.





	

Most of the time, he can control it. Either he consciously breathes around it, or he manages to avert the attack for long enough to get somewhere private. He might have to blurt out words, but he gets enough of the sense across before he needs to leave.

It used to happen more, then it lulled… but he’s been getting them more frequently again since they lost the planet and weapon in one. Little things set him off: things like visiting somewhere too cold, or an alarm, or a tone of voice that’s too negative…

This one hits rapidly, and he has to run off the bridge, waving at his 2IC to take command. 

Kylo acts as his tongue, telling them they need a moment, and to continue. Hux is pretty sure they’ll all be wiped the minute his Knight gets a chance, but right now he’s fighting his body’s attempts at self-sabotage.

Like everything else it does, it does even _this_ wrong. In his fear and need to survive, it thinks the best thing to do is gulp air in so fast it poisons him, and makes his head dizzy. His body squeezes like a toy for a pet, wheezing in the gases and never letting them hit deep near his belly. It’s all in near his collarbones, and there’s fingers _inside_ his body, like his ribs have turned to claws that scrawl across the blooded core of him. 

Everything goes fuzzy around the edges, and he clutches his knees as he bends over.

“It’s alright… it’s alright…”  


It’s not alright. He’s been made a fool of by his own respiratory system, but he doesn’t have the energy to correct Kylo.

He feels hands move his into place: one on his belly, one on his chest. Words that soothe, and a presence warm and soft in his mind. He feels the tiny flicker of concern in Kylo, but more of the other thing instead.

Kylo’s hands move, and Hux tries to breathe around the nerves. Tries to push the hand out that rests near his diaphragm, to keep that section of him inflated for as long as possible. He imagines all the nasty worries are there, hiding in him. If he breathes in and holds it enough, he can crush them with his very lungs. 

A bag over his nose, and he visualises himself expanding to fit all the air within himself, and holds it like a weapon waiting to discharge. A few repetitions, and he’s done. He nods under the bag, and Kylo removes it.

Fingers tuck his hair back neat for him, and his Knight smiles fondly, without a trace of judgement. “Was it something we can work to prevent?”

Not really. He can’t prevent snow from existing. Hux shakes his head, and rights himself. “I’ll… be more cautious, in future.”

He lets his hand be taken, lets himself be held for a moment. 

“Want me to go out first?” Kylo offers.  


“…I don’t want them…”  


“To know. I know.” Kylo pushes their foreheads together, skin on alloy. “Give it two minutes, and no one will remember why you left.”  


This was a close one. He’s going to need to be better, in future.


End file.
